Team River
by squee30000
Summary: In all honesty, Roy Ember wasn't cut out to be a Huntsman. But what else is a pyromaniac with anger issues and telekinesis supposed to do for a living? Includes faunas!Ruby, and some shifting of Beacon's roster, fair warning.
1. Chapter 1

**AN: Full disclosure, this started out as a self-insert. It _shouldn't_ be one anymore, but you can be the judge of that. Also this is the first time I've ever published my writing so be gentle. Or don't. It's your choice, rip it apart if you want, I can't tell you what to do. **

* * *

Roy Ember stepped off the airship onto Beacon's grounds for the first time. _First things first._ Roy thought as he stepped to the side of the crowd exiting the airship along with him. He patted the pockets of his trench coat, making sure he hadn't dropped anything onto the airship. _Scroll, wallet, Scroll that beacon gave me, pocket knife….everything else is just details._

"So," Roy said to himself as he looked around the campus, "this is where I'll be living for the next four years, huh? I wonder if I'll fit in?" An explosion went off in the courtyard around the corner. _Who am I kidding? I'm among my people here._

Roy walked around the corner, peering at the site of the aforementioned explosion, and saw a pile of luggage strewn about haphazardly along with a luggage car tipped onto its side. One of the cases was spilling its contents, canisters of dust, all over the ground in his direction. Thinking it safer to help gather up the volatile substance before a full on conflagration broke out, Roy bent down and began to pick them up. He took note of the snowflake symbol on the canisters, and the markings that indicated that its contents were ultra-fine grain, high yield fire dust. _Someone's got a thing for expensive Schnee brand dust. Or..._ Roy's gaze was drawn to the apparent owner of the luggage, a white haired girl wearing an equally white dress. She appeared to be lecturing a shorter girl in a red cloak who was apologizing profusely.

"Unbelieveable!" The white girl shrieked "This is exactly the kind of thing I was talking about!"

"I'm really, really sorry" The girl in the red stammered out.

"How did someone as clumsy as you even get into Beacon?"

"Hey, I said I was sorry, _Princess_ "

"You know," Roy interrupted, hoping to stop the conflict before someone started throwing punches, "maybe transporting a cart full of volatile dust by yourself through a busy area wasn't the greatest idea." Roy internally facepalmed. _Wow, A+ peacekeeping skills there champ._ Unsurprisingly, the 'princess' turned on him.

"I am MORE than capable of protecting a shipment of dust on my own." The girl retorted.

 _Welp, the peaceful resolution didn't work out. Time to be honest._

"Clearly," Roy turned to look at the cases spilled across the courtyard. "so long as you don't have to protect it from anything more dangerous than someone who isn't looking where they're going."

"Wha- how dare you!" The girl snatched the canister from Roy's hand. "Do you even _know_ who I am?"

"No, but I have a distinct feeling you're about to tell me." The girl glared at his comment before responding.

"I am Weiss _Schnee_ ," She said, stressing the surname "heir to the Schnee Dust Company"

"Oh" Roy let out, his distaste apparent in his voice.

"What?" Weiss put her hands on her hips "Do you have a problem with the SDC?"

Roy folded his arms. "You could certainly say that. My dad worked as a Dust research engineer for the SDC. When he designed a new procedure for producing clear Dust they got some fancy lawyers and sued him for violating his _own_ patent. Though my problems are tiny compared to the all-but slave labor the faunas miners have to endure, with deaths in the dozens every week. And that's glossing over the terrible work conditions of those that survive. But you wouldn't understand anything about hard work, _Ice Queen._ " Roy said, stressing the nickname that he'd heard that the Schnee heiress hated.

 _Or was that her sister that hated that name? Nevermind, she looks pissed anyways._

"Wha- How dare you?" Weiss exclaimed, grabbing the canister from Roy's hand before strutting away.

"Yeesh, friendly as an icicle that one" Roy mused aloud. The girl in the red giggled. Roy held out his hand to the girl "Roy Ember" he introduced himself.

"Ruby Rose" she replied, shaking his hand. "Did you mean those things you said earlier?"

"Well it might have been a _slight_ exaggeration to say that he was sued over violating his own patent, but it's fair to say that he never saw a single lien from it, and the SDC ended up with ownership of his patent anyways."

"That's...not quite what I meant" Ruby said quietly "What you said about the faunas" Ruby practically mumbled the last word

"I uhh, I mean" Roy stuttered nervously "I have nothing against Faunas. Don't get me wrong, the White Fang are a _COMPLETELY_ different story, it's just…" Roy trailed off

"It's just what?" Ruby inquired, her silver eyes peering into his from under her hood.

"I didn't exactly grow up in a diverse town, so I've never actually known a Faunas personally." Roy admitted "I mean from a logical point of view, I have no reason to dislike them. The only legitimate reason I can see for hating Faunas is the Great War, and that was like, 80 years ago. No one who made any of those decisions is even alive today, so there's no reason to hold it against anybody." Roy finished, nervously scratching the back of his head. Ruby's smile grew from a slight hint of a grin to a stupendous smile that threatened to take over her entire face.

"Really? You really mean that?" She asked eagerly getting uncomfortably close to Roy's face.

"I...y-yes?" Roy stammered. Ruby grabbed his hand and pulled him down a pathway on the side of the courtyard.

"Come with me" She pulled him along, stopping at what appeared to be a small flower garden, enclosed on all sides by tall bushes. Ruby checked around to make sure they were alone. Breathing in, she pulled back her hood. The first thing Roy noticed was that her red and black hair matched her outfit perfectly, but his attention was caught by the pair of wolf ears twitching on top of her head. Ruby shyly ducked her head, unintentionally thrusting the objects of her embarrassment directly at Roy.

"Oh my god they're adorable" Roy said before he could stop himself "Did I say that out loud?"

"You kinda did" Ruby replied, blushing slightly

"I-I mean that's not to say that they're the only thing cute about you,"Roy stumbled out "I mean that's not to say they don't add anything to how cute you are. You know what how about I just shut up?"

"No, no it's fine it's just...no one's ever said such nice things about me like that before" Ruby's cheeks appeared to be doing their best to camouflage her face with her cloak.

"I somehow find that hard to believe." Roy said "Surely someone as cute as you can't go three feet without someone complimenting you."

"It's actually a lot closer to the opposite." Ruby said sadly "People see the ears and suddenly before they've even met me I'm an animal, or a member of the White Fang. I actually started wearing the hood to hide them, even if it is really uncomfortable." Ruby raised a hand up to her canine ear and started rubbing it between two finger. Roy raised his hand halfway up but stopped himself, not before Ruby noticed however.

"You can touch them if you like," Ruby offered "Just be gentle."

 _Phrasing_ Roy thought, before bringing his hand to the canine appendage. He imitated Ruby's motion and rubbed it as gently as he could between his fingers.

"So soft" Roy noted.

"Oh stop" Ruby playfully retorted. A startled look flashed onto Roy's face and he pulled his hand away apologizing "I'm so sorry, was that too rough?"

"No" Ruby said, pulling his hand back to her head "Stop with the _words_ , keep going with the hands"

"I-uh...okay" Roy relented, and resumed massaging the girl's ears with both hands. The faunas let out a contented sigh and started leaning into the ministrations. _I'm going to have a difficult time explaining if someone walks in on this._

"You're really good with your hands" Ruby said softly, her eyes drifting closed. _Okay, PHRASING!_ Roy screamed internally _Is she doing this on purpose?_

"Okay, not that this isn't fun for me," _Guess I'm just as guilty when it comes to phrasing_ "But don't we have that thing we're supposed to go to? Like, at the auditorium?"

"Oh crap!" Ruby's eyes shot open. "I'll see you later Roy" She vanished around the corner in a red blur, leaving Roy in a cloud of rose petals.

"I...what?" Roy looked down at his hand, which was holding a single rose petal "WHAT?! What in Oum's name just happened?"

Roy's scrolled vibrated. The screen showed a new message from Ginger, Roy's older sister. _Where are you? Didn't we agree to meet in the courtyard? Also I heard an explosion, was that you?_

Roy began to type out his response, _First off, why do you naturally assume that the explosion was me? Second off, something came up. I think I made a friend?_

Ginger's reply came quickly. _Because it's_ you _we're talking about, and why is there a question mark after friend?_

Roy responded _Because I'm horribly confused. I'll talk to you about it later, I've gotta run to the opening ceremony._ Roy started jogging in the direction of the auditorium. He could hear someone speaking to the whole group through the open windows.

"I'm late." Roy muttered to himself as he ducked into the side door.

"-it is up to you to take the first step" The speaker finished just as Roy slid in behind a group of students.

"Crap, did I miss anything important?" Roy asked himself

"No, not really" A voice behind him answered

Startled, Roy spun around. He was greeted with a full view of amber eyes.

"Ack! Too close!" Roy jumped back, scanning the owner of the amber eyes. The girl was slightly on the shorter side, and wore a black and white outfit, topped with a black bow on her head. "I mean, that's a relief. That I didn't miss anything that is." Roy paused awkwardly.

"Blake Belladonna" She held out her hand.

"Roy Ember" he responded. He took her hand before she pulled him close and whispered in his ear, "I didn't expect to see another Faunas pretending to be a human"

"I beg your pardon?" Roy responded, shocked.

"Oh come on, don't play dumb." Blake folded her arms "You may have tried to hide your scent, but I can still smell you."

 _Wait, "scent"?_ Roy thought before realization struck him _She smells Ruby on me_.

"Ah yes, you see, the thing about that is-"

"You are dismissed" A woman on stage cut him off.

"'I'll see you around" Blake said as she turned to walk away

"I...wait I need to tell you that I'm not actually- aaaand she's gone." Roy finished to himself. _I have a distinct feeling this is going to come back to bite me in the ass._


	2. Chapter 2

**Sorry this chapter took so long. Next one should come more quickly. Enjoy!**

* * *

" _Meet me over by the cafeteria when the presentation is done."_ Ruby read off the text from her sister again as she walked.

Ruby stopped outside the silver doors that led into the cafeteria. "Where is sh-"

"Gotcha!" Ruby felt a pair of arms wrap around her waist and hoist her into the air.

"Gah! Yang! Put me down!" Ruby flailed as she was spun around.

"Aw, does my wittle sister not want to see me?" Yang cooed. "Has wittle Wuby grown up while I was gone?"

"I'd love to see you, but I still can't since you grabbed me from behind."

"Good point" Yang gently set Ruby down. "So, how's Beacon been treating you so far?"

"I've made one friend, one enemy, and exploded once. So, not great overall."

"Wait, that was you? Guess Ginger owes me five lien. huh. Anyways, you made a friend? I'm so proud of my baby sister!"

"Yang, I'm 17 years old, I think I've outgrown ' _baby sister'_ "

"You'll always be my baby sister, for as long as you live!" Yang pulled Ruby into a headlock and started giving her a noogie. "So, why don't you tell me about this friend of yours?"

"Ack, alright, just let me go first." Ruby struggled against her sister's iron grip to no avail.

"Nooooope. I'll be taking control of this interrogation." Yang continued "Answer my questions quickly and truthfully and I'll let you go"

"Fine!" Ruby relented

"Boy or girl?"

"Boy"

"How tall?"

"I dunno…"

Yang decided to switch tactics and started tickling.

"A-About six feet or so-ho!" Ruby squealed in between giggles.

"Hair?" Yang pulled her tickling arm back, letting Ruby take in air again.

"Black, just a little bit on the long side."

"What was he wearing?"

"Yang can you let me-"

" _I'll_ be asking the questions" Yang resumed her assault "Now, what was he wearing?"

"A t-trenchcoat and a red b-button up shirt. He also had a black tie and glasses."

"Good girl. Now, final question, what is his name?"

"Roy Ember, now will you let me go?"

Yang released Ruby onto the ground and turned in thought, "Never heard the name before. Must not have any older siblings here. Well now that I know what he looks like, you can give me all the details abou-" Yang cut herself off when she turned back to face Ruby and was met only with a cloud of rose petals drifting towards the ground. "Or you can just run off. That works too."

* * *

 _And you're SURE you sent my luggage express?_ Roy tapped at the buttons on his scroll while looking for his bag in the pile at the middle of the great hall, _Cause I've checked LITERALLY seven times, and it's not there._

 _Wait, express?_ Bella's response came

"Augh!" Roy groaned "And now I have literally nothing but the clothes on my back."

"Nora to the rescue!" yelled a redheaded girl, presumably named Nora, before throwing a pair of sweatpants at Roy's face. _If this is what that fortune cookie meant by 'girls throwing their clothes at me,' I'm going to be severely disappointed._ Roy was severely disappointed anyways when he took a look at the garment. "What, something wrong with it?" Nora asked

"You could say that." Roy said, turning the garment around, revealing the words 'HOT BUTT' in large pink letters. "Sorry, but I'll have to pass" Roy said, throwing the sweatpants back to their owner.

"Nora, who are you tormenting now?" asked a black haired boy with a magenta highlight.

"I wasn't _tormenting_ anyone Ren, I was helping!" Nora responded indignantly

"To be fair, she was trying" Roy spoke up "My luggage got...lost...and she offered some, admittedly, unfitting sleepwear"

"Well, at least she meant well. I might be able to offer you an extra pillow...I'm sorry I don't think I caught your name. "

"Oh, sorry. Roy, Roy Ember" He held out his hand

"Nice to meet you Royroy Ember!" Nora grabbed his hand and shook it vigorously "I'm Nora Valkyrie, but you can call me Thor, the Destroyer of Grimm."

"Alright _Thor,_ pleased to make your acquaintance" Nora practically bounced off the walls with excitement, not expecting him to take her seriously. Ren looked on with a small smile on his face as Nora ran over to another group, practically babbling with excitement.

"You've certainly made her night." Ren said

"I'm pretty sure we're all better off when your girlfriend is happy" Roy responded

"Oh no we're not...together-together." Ren stated reflexively

"Are you...sure about that?" Roy inquired.

"Y-yes!" Ren replied, sounding less than convincing.

Roy looked back towards Nora, who appeared to have someone in a headlock.

"Well, it's not my place to comment _slash_ judge." Roy turned and began walking towards a clear spot on the floor. "Thanks again for the pillow.

Roy set down the pillow and pulled off his trenchcoat. He unclipped his bandoliers and and set them off to the side.

Nora came back up to Ren and asked "What were you guys talking about?"

"Oh you know, just...guy stuff." Ren sat down and patted Nora's sleeping bag

"Guy stuff? Like sports and cars and stuff?" Nora crawled into her sleeping bag

"Sure Nora" Ren responded, throwing a blanket over her head

 _Not together?_ Roy thought as he pulled his coat over himself like a blanket. _I'll have to admit I'm not convinced._


	3. Chapter 3

**AN: Well, it was less of a gap then last time. Enjoy!**

* * *

"Aaugh" Roy gurgled as he sat up from his sleeping position on the floor. _Why does my mouth always taste weird when I sleep uncomfortably?_ "Ugh, need caffeine. Wait, need to return pillow first." Roy staggered over to Ren, whom he found sharing a pillow with Nora. _Either he's in denial, or he's so deep in the friendzone he'll never see the light of day again_. Roy gently set the borrowed pillow down next to the pair, careful not to disturb them.

"Mmmm… pancakes" Nora mummered in her sleep. Ren responded with a look of disapproval on his face, despite also being unconscious. _Get a room you two._

The next order of business was food. Wait, no, a shower, then food. Wait! Caffeine, then shower, then food. _That seems like the wrong order_. While lost in his thoughts Roy had wandered to the cafeteria doors. _Looks like its caffeine/food, then shower later._

Roy was nearly blown away at the array of choices offered by the buffet along the left hand wall. There were whole chickens turning on rotisseries, shelves of baked goods, whole watermelons, and even a-

"Is that a swordfish?" Roy blurted out

"Yup" answered a voice beside him. _If I keep talking to myself I'm going to meet the whole campus at this rate._ Roy turned towards the speaker, a blond haired boy in a hoodie and a bit of plate armor. "It's a bit overwhelming the first morning isn't it?" The boy grabbed a plate and started loading it with sausages and eggs. "Normally there isn't _quite_ the selection, but initiation morning is special." Once the the first plate was full, the boy began loading bacon and potatoes onto a second.

"I take it you're not a first year" Roy took a plate for himself and started filling it.

"Third-year" The boy replied. "Name's Jaune Arc."

"Roy Ember"

"I'd shake your hand but…" Jaune trailed off, glancing towards the four plates in his hands. Roy raised an eyebrow.

"You feeding your whole team?"

"I'd like to but the wheelbarrow broke last time I tried"

Roy chuckled.

"What's so funny?"

Roy stopped laughing. "You can't be serious."

"Something you'll find about hunters," Jaune explained "Is that if we're doing our job right, between aura generation and physical activity, we actually burn three or four times the calories of a normal person."

"Oh." Roy was a bit stunned "Well that explains the massive buffet"

"Yeah. Anything other requests from the fountain of third-year wisdom?" Jaune chatted

"Where can I find coffee?"

"The team or the drink?"

"The...drink."

Jaune looked around to make sure no one was listening before leaning in close to Roy. "You didn't hear this from me, but at the end of the cafeteria there's these big coffee tank things. _Behind_ the one with the decaf there's a smaller one that's got coffee that literally put someone in a hospital. DO NOT let Ozpin see you taking from there." Jaune straightened up, seeing someone waving at him from over at the tables. "Gotta go"

"Thanks for the help." Roy called out as the knight walked away. Roy began walking towards the back end of the cafeteria. _Alright mystery coffee, show me what you've got._

* * *

 _And here I thought Jaune was exaggerating when he said it hospitalized someone._ Roy felt every individual fiber of his being perk up at the dark substance. His morning drowsiness obliterated, he began to dig into the food. He expected to be met with the bland, flavorless and textureless feeling that mass produced buffet food usually brought, but was surprised when he but into a sausage and found his mouth flooded with flavor. He sampled the other foods on his plate and found that they were all of high quality. _Is it like this at all the Huntsmen academies? Or just Beacon?_ His wondering was interrupted when the spot next to him was suddenly occupied by a certain red hooded wolf.

"Good morning Roy" Ruby beamed at him from under her hood

"Morning Ruby. You're rather chipper this morning." Roy observed

"Well yeah, today's the day of initiation. Just think, soon we'll be out in the field, fighting Grimm!" Ruby squealed. "It'll be so much fun!"

You have a strange idea of fun," Roy commented "but I guess I don't have much room to talk. Most teenagers don't spend their friday evenings trying to modify an H7 rotator lock to work with an Mv actuator"

"Why not just use an H9? They have an Mv compatibility slot built in."

"The H9's a bit too big for where I need it, and I only need one directional contr-" Roy noticed Ruby's intense gaze "Bit of a weapon's enthusiast?"

"You have NO IDEA" Ruby said flatly "I poured my heart and soul into Crescent Rose, and I have _never_ stopped tinkering with it."

"Finally" Roy threw his arms up in celebration "Someone who understands that a weapon's design shouldn't be set in stone from the moment it leaves the forge."

"I know" Ruby affirmed "There's no reason not to keep upgrading it, or altering it when my fighting style changes."

"We have so much to talk about" Roy pulled his personal scroll out "Lemme show you some pictures of Gladio Phenix."

"Gladio-what?" Ruby raised an eyebrow.

"It's Old-Mistralian. It means Phoenix Blade." Roy explained "Well, technically it translates to Sword Phoenix, but it _means_ Phoenix Blade."

"Why not just call it Phoenix Blade?"

Roy raised a finger as if to answer, but paused when realization dawned on him.

"Because I'm an idiot"

Ruby patted his shoulder reassuringly "It's okay, you're among friends, well, _a_ friend. Now c'mon, show me your thing!"

 _Is every other word out of her mouth an innuendo?_ Roy decided _not_ to voice this thought and instead pulled up a picture of his weapon. The picture showed a black and red greatsword over five feet long.

"That is a massive sword." Ruby pointed to the top of the grip "What do the two triggers do?"

"They control the dust injectors into the firing slot" Roy swiped his finger to the next picture, in which the sword split open along the flat of the blade, revealing several connecting rails. "The top one releases wind dust, and the bottom one releases the payload. Right now I have it filled with fire dust mixed with a tiny bit of Earth dust. Gives it a little bit of impact power instead of a just a light little fireball."

"So does it just shoot through the middle then out the top?" Ruby asked

"Kindof, it's more like- you know that thing in anime where someone slashes a sword and like the actual arc that the sword traces is a projectile and it goes out and hits something? Basically that but with fire."

"That is so cool!" Ruby squealed "You said it had other forms?"

"Just one." Roy scrolled to the next photo which showed a girl with blue hair holding a trophy. "Whoops, that's my little sister" Roy scrolled through a few more photos before stopping on one that showed Gladio Phenix again, but with the grip bent forward at an angle and the blade itself retracted. "Here we go. Gladio Phenix's Cannon Form"

"Cannon?" Ruby's eyes went wide.

"I know it's vaguely shaped like a rifle, but it packs enough of a punch to turn an oak tree into splinters, so calling it a rifle doesn't seem to do it justice"

"I see your point"

Roy put his scroll away. "But we've talked about mine for long enough, what's your weapon?"

As if on cue to ruin his day, both his and Ruby's Beacon issued scrolls buzzed. Pulling them out, the pair read the message _All first year students report to initiation at Beacon Cliff 20 minutes. Be ready in full combat gear._

"Wait, 20 minutes?" Ruby read off, "I haven't finished eating yet! And Crescent Rose is still in my locker" She then disappeared in a red blur, taking her plate with her, and once again leaving behind a cloud of rose petals. Roy picked up one of the petals, examining it. _So does she make them, or are her pockets already full of them or what? A question for a later time. A question for now however, what am I gonna do about the fact that I haven't showered?_ His gaze was drawn to the rose petal in his hand. _I mean B.O. and roses is better than just plain old B.O., right?_ He glanced around briefly then shoved a handful of rose petals into his pocket before starting off in the direction he remembered Beacon Cliff being in.


	4. Chapter 4

**AN:I have to say I'm happy with how this one turned out. Also, stuff actually _happens_ in this chapter, which is a big plus. Enjoy.**

* * *

"Ah, Mr. Ember." Ozpin said as Roy ran up to the group on the cliff "How nice of you to finally join us"

"Sorry about…late" Roy panted. "Went ...wrong cliff" He had rushed off in the direction of the cliff at the front of the school, the one right next to the sign that said 'Beacon'. Why that wasn't the cliff called 'Beacon Cliff' was anyone's guess. It had been a helpful second year student, a rabbit faunas named Velvet, that had pointed him in the right direction.

""Well then now that you're here, if you'd take your place on one of the platforms," Ozpin gestured towards the metal squares with the school's symbol, the double axes, emblazed on it."Then we can begin"

Ozpin continued as Roy made his way over to the nearest empty platform, "For years you have trained to be warriors, and today your abilities will be evaluated in the Emerald Forest."

"In addition," Ozpin continued "You will also be paired with the individual who will be your partner for the rest of your time here at this academy. So it will be in your best interest to be paired with someone with whom you can work well. That being said, the first person you make eye contact with after landing will be your partner for the next four years."

Roy raised a hand as he spoke "So, basically random"

"Essentially"

" _Oh how lovely_ " Roy remarked to himself, his voice dripping with sarcasm

"After you've partnered up" Ozpin went on, either not hearing Roy's comment or simply choosing to ignore it "hold your scrolls together, and they will automatically register you as partners, allowing them to display both of your Aura meters. You will then receive further instructions at that time via your scrolls. I recommend the utmost caution, and that you stay with your teams as soon as they are formed. There have been sightings of Elder Grimm, which have been known to eliminate fully trained hunters who found themselves alone."

 _How reassuring._

"I wish you good luck on your landing strategies"

 _Wait, landing strategies?_

And then suddenly, the platform underneath him flung him into the sky above the forest

* * *

Roy was flying through the air at what could be described as 'uncomfortable speeds.' He felt his upward momentum diminish before he felt himself falling closer to Remnant, and he knew he had to think fast. _Now's as good a time as any to test out that landing strategy I thought up._ It was going to be safe and gentle in theory. _In theory._

Roy deployed Gladio Phenix into its cannon form and braced the end with his feet, pointing it towards the rapidly approaching surface. He gently squeezed the lower trigger on his weapon, and a blast of flame burst forth, slowing him down, though not enough. At this rate he'd hit the ground too hard, and he didn't want to start his initiation off in a self made crater. He squeezed the trigger a bit more, increasing the flame. He continued to slow his descent, but he was still going too fast.

 _Just a little bit more._ He was close enough to make out the individual leaves on the trees. His fingers accidentally pulled the other trigger. His weapon made a clicking noise before the constant flame was replaced with a blazing projectile which shot forward, right at the ground below Roy.

"Oh sh-" Roy was cut off by the explosion. The shockwave pushed him forwards and upwards, ironically cushioning him from an extremely painful landing. Instead, he only experienced a moderately painful landing, as he bounced once along the ground before rolling sideways and coming to a sliding stop on his face. His aura had protected him from any serious physical damage, but could do nothing about his shattered pride. Roy picked himself up and began dusting himself off. He looked around for any onlookers, Grimm or otherwise, and came up negative.

"Thank Oum no one saw that"

* * *

Ozpin chuckled at the video screen on his Scroll, which showed the aftermath of Roy's landing strategy. "There's always one that gets me, every year. Though this one still doesn't beat Arc's from two years ago."

"I don't understand how you can derive so much amusement from the result of improper preparation." Glynda tutted "As headmaster you should be worried about the quality of your students, not laughing at them."

"Oh come now Glynda, we both know you wanted some retribution for his tardiness"

Glynda turned away from the headmaster, hiding her smile. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

* * *

Roy had a LOT of questions. _How am I supposed to find a partner in the forest with pretty much nothing to go off of? Are landing strategies going to be a recurring theme? Why can't I get my Scroll to display anything other than my Aura meter?_ That last one was a bit troublesome. His personal Scroll, which used the civilian network, was out of range, and the one Beacon provided was locked to only show the Aura meter screen. The green bar was nearly full, the small dent in his Aura evidence of his less that ideal landing.

Roy stowed his Scroll in his pocket. He listened for any sound that could lead to another person, footsteps, gunfire, anything. A low growl came from the treeline behind him, signaling the arrival of a Beowolf. Roy spun towards the noise, his hand grabbing the hilt of his weapon on his back. _Please not an Elder. Please not an Elder. Please not an Elder._ The Beowolf came into view, barely two meters tall, the spines on its back little more than bumps. Roy felt a wash of relief. This Beowolf was young, and had probably never even seen a human before. _This will be a breeze._

The Beowolf was joined by two significantly larger ones behind it. _Just had to open my big fat...metaphorical mouth._ They roared at him before they charged. Roy pulled his weapon to his side, gripping it with both hands before charging at the Beowolves himself. _Burn the first one, upward slash the left one, follow-through horizontal slash the right one, then follow-through downward slash on the first one as it's recovering._

His plan set in his head, he raised Gladio Phenix on his right side. He brought the sword down as it flung an arc of fire at the front Beowolf only 10 feet away. The grimm let out an uncharacteristic yelp as it caught fire before it stumbled and came crashing to the ground. Roy side-stepped the burning mess and brought his sword upwards across the Beowolf on the left. He let the sword's momentum carry him as he turned completely around, before bringing his sword across the third Grimm, cleanly bisecting it at its stomach. He continued his momentum, and buried his sword in the burning pile that was the lead Beowolf. His sword cut through the mess and several inches into the ground.

Roy left out a breath he didn't know he was holding. "Well, that went according to pla-"

He was cut off by a roar. Roy turned towards the source of the sound, _upwards._ A fourth Beowolf had climbed the trees, and was now leaping down towards him. Roy tried to bring his weapon up to defend himself, but it was still stuck in the dirt. "Son of a-"

But Roy was cut off once again by the sound of a high-impact sniper rifle, and a red blur streaking across his assailant, slicing it in two. The severed pieces of the Beowolf landed on either side of Roy as he turned towards his savior.

"Thanks for the save Ruby"

The hooded girl turned towards him, her silver eyes meeting his red ones. "Anytime... _Partner_."

Roy moved to pull his sword out of the ground, but in doing so accidentally brushed his fingers against the lower trigger.. The resulting explosion blew him off his feet and into the branches of a nearby tree.

 _Well done Roy, grace of a fucking swan._

"You alright Roy?" Ruby called up at him from the base of the tree.

"I'm fine." Roy replied, not moving from his spot in the tree "It's just that this is the second time I've nearly blown myself up in the past hour, so if it's alright with you I'm just gonna take a moment to contemplate my life thus far."


End file.
